2023 Grants
What valuable programs from Smithsonian museums and research centers are underway due to 2023 grants from the Smithsonian Women’s Committee? Here is a summary.
Anacostia Community Museum
- $35,000 to fund the installation of an exhibit that highlights the achievements of local women of color taking action to further the environmental justice movement.
Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
- $35,000 to mount an exhibition of the work of Simone Leigh, an artist who focuses on Black women’s experiences.
National Museum of Natural History
- $33,000 to screen small mammals for covid in VA parks to learn about disease dynamics and animal-human transmission and to assess covid’s longevity.
National Portrait Gallery
- $25,445 to fund new large-format graphic production equipment that produces posters, labels, murals and signs.
National Zoo
- $15,560 to identify the shifts in kidney function biomarkers to determine whether giant pandas are actually pregnant or pseudo-pregnant.
National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
- $21,030 to advance the reintroduction of work elephants to their natural habitats in Laos by using satellite-GPS collars to track how well they integrate with wild elephants.
- $21,548 to fund a workshop in Kenya so researchers there can share the results of their study on the effect of translocation procedures on eastern black rhinos’ health.
- $28,000 to investigate the use of probiotics and fecal transplants to better prepare black-footed ferrets for reintroduction into the wild.
- $15,708 to monitor natural branch bridges for arboreal mammals to understand how the bridges impact the mammals’ migration.
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
- $28,000 to connect visitors to astrophysical science through a hybrid multimedia-print project using tactile-Braille products, extended reality technology and English/Spanish posters.
Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative
- $35,000 to hire conservators with conflict and disaster experience to provide assistance to Ukrainian cultural institutions.
- $30,302 to create a student-led science project to teach about the scientific method while determining the causes of the algae deposits on a popular tourist beach.
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
- $32,500 to provide internship opportunities in environmental science for recent college graduates who had limited research experience during their undergraduate career.
- $29,012 to translate SSEC’s “Stories of Women in STEM” and “Stories of Women of Color in STEM” e-books into nine languages.
- $16,226 to translate into Spanish and desktop-publish the Smithsonian Science for Global Goals Clean Energy Community Research Guide.
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
- $18,227 to build and maintain a tropical ecosystem butterfly enclosure.
- $30,302 to create a student-led science project to teach about the scientific method while determining the causes of the algae deposits on a popular tourist beach.
2022 Grants
These projects were made possible through 2022 grants to Smithsonian museums and research centers from the Smithsonian Women’s Committee.
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
- $15,000 to fund the creation of an expanded online exhibition: “Storied Objects from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival”.
Center for Species Survival/Conservation Biology Institute
- $19,600 to support research to determine the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on captive elephants’ health and welfare in Thailand.
Conservation Biology Institute/National Zoo
- $18,000 to purchase GPS tracking collars to support a species recovery program on the Belknap Indian Reservation – the return of the swift fox.
- $26,660 to support an intern and the purchase of advanced tracking technology to monitor three declining grassland bird species during the vulnerable post-fledgling stage on Virginia farms.
- $18,564 to produce a bilingual comic book for distribution at the opening of the Zoo’s new bird house, describing simple actions that everyone across America can take to save birds.
- $10,000 to fund a stipend for a graduate student to conduct collaborative science across institutions and disciplines and to investigate the link among dietary fiber, health, and the gut microbiome of cheetahs.
- $30,000 to support a new internship program to increase minority/diversity representation in conservation biology: “Smithsonian Women’s Committee Diversity Internships in Conservation Biology”.
National Museum of Natural History
- $26,294 to increase deep-ocean accessibility, awareness, and leadership for women and traditionally marginalized students while expanding knowledge of poorly known deep waters off Puerto Rico.
National Portrait Gallery
- $20,000 to fund a temporary contractor to evaluate and assess the Catalog of American Portraits, providing recommendations for the vast catalog’s placement, funding, and maintenance.
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
- $30,500 to fund 5 recent graduates who lost research opportunities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Smithsonian Libraries & Archives
- $4,679 to support innovative and collaborative programming for the upcoming exhibition: “Music Her Story: Building Community through Zines.”
- $7,000 to support the design and creation of an online exhibition introducing women astronomers of the late 19th and 20th centuries: “Stellar Women: Maria Mitchell and Her Successors”.
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
- $19,400 to create an innovative and interactive digital game for STRI’s Q?Digital Website: “Taking the science from Barro Colorado Island to the digital classroom and beyond”.
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute/Smithsonian Associates
- $29,200 to support a series of digital, online, and/or live programs: “Bright Beginnings: A Smithsonian Series for Young Children.”
2021 Grants
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SWC’s 2021 fundraising efforts were significantly limited. Even so, the SWC was able to award five grants totaling $58,482. Four of these grants addressed the funding priorities of Secretary Bunch during the pandemic. The fifth, a new edition of A Guide to Smithsonian Architecture, helped bring the book up to date in time for the Smithsonian’s 175th anniversary in 2021.
